


The Nature of Extremities

by coletterby



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Riza Hawkeye, F/M, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 12:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coletterby/pseuds/coletterby
Summary: "Why don't you tell them that you forgot because you're getting senile in your old age?""Maybe I'll tell them I spent the day looking for you before realising you were at your desk the whole time and were just too short for me to see?"When Roy and Ed are thinking about the same thing, will they end up with the same conclusion?





	1. Ed

Fingers. They're a weird creation. I mean, they're useful and everything but there's something almost magical about them. Sometimes, they almost appear to move by themselves. Like when I see your black hair fall down to shade your bottomless onyx eyes, they try to reach out and fix it back. Thankfully I've always manage to stop them, though the rumours my most recent fight have left me with a twitch certainly aren't appreciated.

I've noticed my fingers have been acting out a lot recently. They've been reaching out to touch you so frequently I need to be on guard to stop them. I have this queer feeling that if I touched you, something would shatter. I'm just not exactly sure what. This barrier between us made up of rank and casually thrown insults? The image you have of me in your head? Quite possibly my heart?

But I'm getting distracted here. You see, I was watching your fingers today. They were fluttering nervously around the edge of your paperwork as you tried to think up some vaguely plausible excuse as to why it would not be completed by the time Riza returned from her impromptu date.

"Why don't you tell her that you forgot because you're getting senile in your old age?" I supply, picking on one of the few weaknesses I know he has.

His eye twitched.

"Maybe I'll tell them I spent the day looking for you before realising you were at your desk the whole time, you were just too short for me to see?" He replied with a grin.

The red mist of rage descended. 

"Who are you calling so short he could be crushed by a falling piece of paper?!" 

I moved to clap my hands together (my fingers moving by themselves again) when he put his hand in between mine to stop me transmuting. I pulled the clap so my hands came to rest on either side of his and then I felt it; the shatter. Even then, I still had no idea what was shattering. 

We both continued to stare down at our hands, neither of us moving a muscle. Maybe it was our brains that had shattered? Then my fingers did that moving on their own thing again, curving around his until I was more cradling his hand between mine than anything else. 

We looked at each other in that moment, as the pieces of the shattered thing fell away around us. I could almost feel his onyx eyes probing my brain for a meaning for this but there was none to be found. It was just my fingers, moving like they always did.

"Ed?" he whispered as he looked down at me.

"Yes?" I whispered back, silently giving thanks for the office being empty at this late hour.

"I …"


	2. Roy

Fingers. I don't understand them and yet, they entrance me. With one movement they can destroy or create. With a flutter of the fingers from the higher ups I could be ordered to destroy entire towns, entire nations of people, which I could do, with one snap of my fingers. 

On the other hand, someone's fingers could heal those wounds; press a bandage down to hold in some blood until lovingly made prosthetic limbs are made to replace those lost. Fingers held tight can give the support needed to make it through, what would otherwise be, unbearable pain. They can wipe away the tears that have escaped. They can help clean the blood from under your fingernails from when you were cornered, and your glove was ripped, and you'd had no choice but to ...to..

But I've got distracted. You see, I was watching his fingers today. As always, they were smothered in his white gloves to keep his automail from showing and revealing his secret. He was running his fingers over the joint between leg and automail, smoothing and patting as if hoping to meld the two together. As if he was trying to make them back into one piece like they were before he touched his fingers to that carefully drawn transmutation circle and changed his life forever. He gave his leg one final pat as if saying to himself, yes I know it hurts but I'll fix it, soon.

I suddenly remember I was supposed to be working. So was he, if I wasn't mistaken. He'd promised Riza he would complete her share of the paperwork if she finally fulfilled her promise to take Havoc out on a date.

Just over a month ago, Ed and Riza had bet there was no way Havoc would complete his paperwork for a full month without active threatening. If he did, Ed had to fill in for Riza at the Annual Military Ball which she hated. If Havoc didn't complete the paperwork, Ed got one "that explosion/fight/revolution wasn't my fault" alibi to be used as needed (and being Ed, it would inevitably be needed). 

The moment the bet was sealed, Riza told Havoc she would take him out on a date if he completed his paperwork without prompting for one month. Havoc choked on his cigarette, snapped out a sloppy salute and grabbed a pen. Ed, if I recall correctly, started banging his head against his desk muttering about getting new dress blues. As it's a strong possiblity that Riza devours her mate after sex, I'm not entirely sure the "active threatening" part of the bet was properly upheld. However as I had a solid liking for all my body parts and wished for them to remain bullet holeless, I thought it was best not to bring it up. 

When Ed announced he was willing to cover for her this evening, to the whole office's surprise she took him up on it. After making him promise to "baby sit" me, she gave Havoc a look that made him swallow his tongue before she strutted out of the office, Havoc floating in her wake. 

Once Hawkeye was gone the remainder of the office emptied surprisingly quickly and I had continued to sit there, watching Ed, not noticing the gigantic stack of paperwork still piled up beside me … until now. I gave a light groan and tried to think up an excuse for not having it done. I was interrupted by the shrimp. 

"Why don't you tell them that you forgot because you're getting senile in your old age?"

My eye twitched. He always managed to get that reaction from me, but it was ok, I was about to get a better one from him.

"Maybe I'll tell them I spent the day looking for you before realising you were at your desk the whole time, you were just too short for me to see?"

I grinned as I saw the red colour reach from his neck to his halo of golden hair.

"Who are you calling so short he could be crushed by a falling piece of paper!" 

Clear signs you've been in the office too long:  
(1) you start using office supplies in your rants   
(2) you decide to attack your superior officer over a minor insult

I immediately recognised the signs of imminent attack from all the previous times I had provoked the golden eyed beauty. Really, getting him to erupt was so easy, it was almost like clockwork. 

His hands twitched and then began their journey to meet in the middle. If they did, I wasn't sure I'd be able to hide the evidence (see damage done to the parade grounds). I quickly placed my hand between his two and smiled as he stopped his hands from hitting mine hard and instead let them bump gently against mine. 

And then I felt it. 

Something much harder than his hands struck me. It resonated with something deep inside of me and, in that moment, I heard it shatter. I froze as I stared down, his two smaller hands side by side with my larger one in between. 

His gentle fingers began wrapping slowly, cautiously around mine, as if afraid I'd bite. It woke me up from my concentration, thinking too hard on the contrast of his automail against my hand against his hand. 

I looked down into his eyes and tried to see what had made him change what could have been an accident into something much more deliberate. It definitely felt deliberate and I know it was deliberate on my part not to take my hand back once he grasped it. 

Could it possibly have been deliberate on his?

"Ed?" I said, hardly realising my voice had dropped to a whisper.

"Yeah?" He whispered back.

"I…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, the conclusion
> 
> Hope you're enjoying it so far!  
> Kudos and comments always welcome!  
> Coletterby

**Author's Note:**

> And that's your lot! Next chapter Roy's POV.
> 
> This is my first posting on AO3 so please be kind! Kudos and comments always welcome! Hope to see you next chapter.  
> Coletterby


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